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Lightweight carbon frame? Check. Industry-leading suspension technology? Oh yeah. Race-ready build kit? You know it. The Epic Expert is not only ready to shine in races but its also ready to put your closest buddies in the pain cave on the weekends.
Race courses have evolved over the past few years. Theyre more technical steeper and more challenging to ride. But instead of quivering in our boots we saw this as an opportunity to make something special—something that both World Cup athletes and XC riders alike can instantly feel the benefit from. We looked at the sum of parts that make a bike handle well like the head angle reach stack chainstay length fork offset etc. and reevaluated all of it. Increasing the reach made a bike that was more stable at speed and generally more comfortable to ride. Dropper posts? Yep those fit and not just a short-travel XC option but full-length droppers that fit in the 30.9mm seat tube. Head angle? We slacked that out but not without evaluating the overall handling package. It now lands on a custom offset 42mm fork that works with the slacker head angle in order to behave itself in tight corners and through switchbacks.
Next comes Brain 2.0. The original Brain changed the way the bike world looked at suspension both in its inefficiencies and benefits alike. And oh was it good. It won races and put a flag in the ground for us as a true leader in innovation and suspension development but we knew that we could make it better. Simple physics told us that by moving the Brain closer to the rear axle it would be in the most sensitive spot. And after countless hours with the RockShox team the Brain became more than just a slight upgrade. Its totally reborn. Now it reacts seamlessly to bump forces it has much more consistent damping performance and finally it integrates the hoses into the suspension links. This in turn improves oil paths and it creates an incredibly sleek package that outperforms anything on the market.
The Epic also has a rider Rider-First Engineered™ design that places complex carbon pieces in all the right places and this greatly increases stiffness in the front-end for a vast improvement in ride quality and control. To go along with this each frame size has size-specific tubes that result in the stiffest best riding XC bike weve ever developed—no matter the frame size.
And while stiffness Brain technology and geometry features are cool and all we know what youre thinking What about weight? Were glad you asked. With the goal of the new Epic to be the fastest XC mountain bike weve ever made weight was at the top of our priorities list. We started with an efficient frame layout and tube shapes that feature clean cable routing integrated channels through the shock extension straight tubes with less curves and optimized torsion profiles in every section. And if youre curious this weight savings is equivalent to shedding a chainstay and shock extension from the previous Epic—nearly 525 grams.
The build of the Epic Expert meshes performance with value featuring a 12-speed SRAM GX Eagle groupset a RockShox SID fork with bottom-adjust Brain Fade SRAM Level TL brakes and a hand-built Roval Control Carbon fibre wheelset. Get ready because this is going to be Epic.
Frame |
Specialized FACT 11m, XC Geometry, Rider-First Engineered™, threaded BB, 12x148mm rear spacing, internal cable routing, 100mm of travel
|
Fork |
RockShox SID Brain 29, Solo Air, top-adjust Brain Fade, 15x110mm Maxle® Stealth thru-axle, 42mm offset, 100mm of travel
|
Rear Shock |
Custom RockShox Micro Brain shock w/ Spike Valve, AUTOSAG, 51x257mm
|
Front Hub |
Specialized, sealed cartridge bearings, 15x110mm spacing, 28h
|
Rear Hub |
Specialized, sealed cartridge bearings, 12x148mm thru-axle, 28h
|
Spokes | DT Swiss Industry |
Rims |
Roval Control Carbon, 25mm internal width, tubeless-ready
|
Inner Tubes |
Presta, 60mm valve
|
Front Tyre |
Fast Trak, GRIPTON® compound, 60 TPI, 2Bliss Ready, 29x2.3
|
Rear Tyre |
Fast Trak, GRIPTON® compound, 60 TPI, 2Bliss Ready, 29x2.1
|
Crankset |
Truvativ STYLO, DUB
|
Chainrings | SRAM Eagle, 32T |
Bottom Bracket |
SRAM DUB, threaded BB
|
Shift Levers |
SRAM GX Eagle, trigger, 12-speed
|
Rear Derailleur |
SRAM GX Eagle, 12-speed
|
Cassette |
SRAM GX Eagle, 12-speed, 10-50t
|
Chain |
SRAM GX Eagle, 12-speed
|
Front Brake |
SRAM Level TL, hydraulic disc
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Rear Brake |
SRAM Level TL, hydraulic disc
|
Handlebars |
Specialized Alloy Minirise, 10mm rise, 750mm, 31.8mm clamp
|
Grips |
Specialized Sip Grip, half-waffle, S/M: regular thickness, L/XL: XL thickness
|
Stem |
Specialized XC, 3D-forged alloy, 4-bolt, 6-degree rise
|
Saddle |
Body Geometry Phenom Comp, Adaptive Edge design, hollow Cr-Mo rails, 143mm
|
Seatpost |
Alloy, single-bolt, 30.9mm
|
Seat Binder | Alloy, 34.9mm |
Pedals | Specialized Dirt |
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